creativity may be the prescription you need
From a grassroots idea between two friends wanting to share creative skills in the community, MakeShift has evolved to become an award-winning provider of evidence-based programs that use creativity to support mental health.
Words Helen James @blackhorsecommunications
Images Alice McConnell
A decade on, with clients including Atlassian, ABC TV and The NSW Juvenile Department of Justice, the efficacy of MakeShift’s approach is not only recognised by organisations, but backed by a growing body of research.
Co-founders Caitlin Marshall and Lizzie Rose continue to offer our community programs hallmarked by joyous creative collaborations. In their new book, Creative First Aid - The Science + Joy of Creativity for Mental Health, MakeShift shares simple ways we can all unlock moments of creative mindfulness and calm connection in daily life.
The vision of MakeShift is deceptively simple: to share the joy of creativity as a prescription for supporting mental health. In a pioneering framework of ‘creative first aid’, these prescriptions are dispensed in workshops or short courses, facilitated by a creative artist in an atmosphere of inclusion, curiosity, and play. Offered in-person and online, creative practices range from storytelling to ceramics, from gardening to illustration, dance to textiles, with mental health education and strategies to support wellbeing woven into the experience.
But by all accounts, there’s something more to MakeShift, something unique in the atmosphere of the spaces held. There’s a purity of intention, genuine humility, delight in creative collaboration and almost magical ability to spark joy. Caitlin and Lizzie’s inclusive approach and clarity of purpose invites others in, by attraction rather than promotion, and makes a remarkable difference to participants' lives.
The complexity of the issues that this seemingly simple, fun-forward approach has been proven to effectively address are vast and interwoven. Issues like disconnection from self, isolation from one another, and lifestyles that separate us from the land we live on and the natural rhythms our fundamental biology craves, contributing to MakeShift supporting those with wide-ranging health challenges including social anxiety, burnout, chronic illness, grief, and complex trauma.
The concept of creative prescribing was the result of feedback from thousands of MakeShift participants over many years. Overwhelmingly, these creative experiences were helping with a raft of mental health challenges. “From there, we had GPs and psychologists get in touch, letting us know that they were referring people to our classes as more of a formal social prescribing method” describes Lizzie.
MakeShift’s concept of creative prescriptions, as representation of an antidote and an indication for recovery, resonated strongly with professionals.
“When creativity is prescribed, when a case manager, or a rehab provider, or a psychologist or GP says that this would really help, we connect with people who would never identify as being creative, or interested in music or art, or dance or craft” Caitlin says.
Dr Mark Melek is a GP who has lived and worked as a GP in the Illawarra for over a decade, and is founder and Medical Director of Village Practice in Woonona. First connecting with MakeShift to provide consultation on programs, for the past three years he has also been a board member in the not-for-profit structure. Mark recognised “a broad need for an improved sense of wellbeing through community engagement and belonging” and saw this reflected in patients seeking medical help.
“When someone presents with complex health issues, social and psychological elements are almost always contributing to, or exacerbating, symptoms” Mark says. With prestigious medical journals evidencing his experience, Mark sees MakeShift’s offering as an opportunity to address fundamental human needs for connection and creativity.
“I haven’t met a person yet who hasn’t been overwhelmed with feelings of excitement and growth from trying something playful, creative or in nature. People need to find the particular thing that works for them, but every patient has benefited.”
“One of the best ways to connect with your creativity is to get out into nature.”
Each MakeShift workshop or program features a creative facilitator sharing their art who is carefully selected to match the needs of those attending.
“Over the years we’ve worked with hundreds of artists and creators, and identify those who are really good at passing on their art form in a way that’s very welcoming, very humble, equalising rather than intimidating, and makes people feel comfortable” explains Caitlin.
“All our creative facilitators have been through mental health first aid training, and through creative prescribing training with us” says Lizzie.
“But their role is to bring the experience of creativity, the feeling of a tonic for the nervous system to help people reconnect with their own innate creativity. They are a living dispensary”.
MakeShift has an incredible pool of regular facilitators, most of them local and reflective of the depth and range of creative talent drawn to the area. Kirli Saunders shares her poetry, writing and artmaking; Elana Stone her music and singing; Marcelo Baez his illustration and drawing; Helena Fox her writing; Nooky his rapping and music; Narelle Happ her plants and gardens - and many more.
Mark believes that time outside, with other people, is integral to wellbeing, and many of MakeShift’s programs offer that opportunity. “One of the best ways to connect with your creativity is to get out into nature” says Caitlin, “and that’s a big focus for us. Taking a moment to learn what land you’re on, what birds are coming by. Those micro-practices of connecting with Country can help you come back to yourself again”.
Continues Lizzie “our First Nations people are the first ever storytellers and artists, and they understand and embody connection and community. We have so much to learn from that, and acknowledge that we can do what we do because of the practices that came before us”.
Melinda Young is an accomplished contemporary jeweller, artist and educator. After moving to the area in 2017, she connected with MakeShift and facilitated her first workshop during an immersive creative retreat the following year.
“I can’t describe how stepping into the world that Caitlin and Lizzie create has changed me. I felt completely atomically transformed after that experience”.
Mel has continued to regularly collaborate, facilitating experiences in jewellery, coiled basketry, mark making and journaling. She was also a frequent participant in MakeShift’s online workshops during Covid lockdowns, and credits them as foundational to her wellbeing during that time. “What they do is transformative, and really special. I’ve been a maker my whole life and spent more than 20 years teaching - and I’ve never been involved in anything quite like what MakeShift does. The spaces are for everyone, and full of the joy that they create.”
Caitlin and Lizzie have co-authored a newly published book Creative First Aid - The Science + Joy of Creativity for Mental Health, featuring illustrations by regular MakeShift creative facilitator Kiara Mucci.
The book makes a powerful case for creativity as a tool for supporting mental health, weaving together evidence, personal reflections, neuroscience and conversations with thinkers, psychologists and artists. Showcasing “50 hands-on prescriptions for anyone to try” some creative practices take just a minute or two, and form “really practical strategies - that are free - to support mental health and wellbeing” says Lizzie. “Our view is that everyone needs that. It’s not just if you're struggling”.
“So often the conversation around mental health is around waiting for other people, the experts and professionals, to fix things” adds Caitlin. “This is an invitation to begin now”.
To get involved or for more information, check out makeshift.org.au or follow:
Mark Melek @village_practice
Mel Young @unnaturaljeweller
Creative First Aid - The Science + Joy of Creativity for Mental Health is now available through Murdoch Books and selected book stores.
